Interchangeable front sight for hand firearms

ABSTRACT

An interchangeable front sight for hand firearms including a front sight holder to be secured to the weapon barrel and a front sight blade inserted into the holder. The front sight blade having integral flexible legs which engage the weapon barrel to force the sight blade into contact with the holder and thereby hold the blade in place.

United States Patent 2,1 3,273 7/1938 Burton...

Edwin Mar. 7, 1972 [54] INTERCHANGEABLE FRONT SIGHT 2,645,017 7/1953 l-laase ..33/47 FOR HAND FIREARMS I Prima Examiner-Leonard Forman [72] Inventor: Wohrstem Edwin, Altoberndorf, Gennany z E G Foldes [73] Assignee: Feinwerkbau Westinger & Altenburger AnomeyCraig,Antonelli and Hill KG g 22 Filed: July 23'," 1969; v [571 ABSTRACT 2 APPL 344,097] "I 7 An interchangeable front sight'-for hand firearms including a v 1 front sight holder-to be secured to the weapon barrel and a front sight blade inserted into the holder. The front sight blade ..33/47 having integral flexible legs which engage the weapon barrel [58] Field to force the sight blade into contact with the holder and g thereby hold the blade in place. [56] References Cited 9 Claims, 2 awing gum UNITEDSTATESPATENTS ifi" V V l '7 i V i INTERCIIANGEABLE FRONT SIGHT FOR HAND FIREARMS The present invention relates to an interchangeable front sight for hand firearms, in particular pistols, comprising a front sight holder secured to the barrel of the weapon and a front sight blade inserted into said holder.

Heretofore, interchangeable blade from sights have been employed in which the blades were fitted in hooded front sights. It is a disadvantage of these arrangements that vision is impaired by the hooded front sight and that the marksman, when taking aim, is confused by the screw needed to fasten the blade. A further disadvantage consists in that the front sight blade of these arrangements is disposed in a vertical position, which may produce glare.

Other arrangements of interchangeable front sights suggested prior to this invention have the disadvantage that their method of attachment results in a very great overall height and, consequently, a very great distance from the centerline of the barrel. In addition, receptions and screw connections must be manufactured with a high degree of accuracy, which makes both the retaining and interchangeable components very expensive to produce.

It is the object of the present invention to avoid these disadvantages of the known arrangements and to provide, an interchangeable front sight for hand firearms, and in particular for pistols, which permits open sighting at a small distance between the line of sight and the centerline of the barrel and in which a blade manufacturable at low cost may be used as interchangeable component which combines easy interchangeability with accurate location.

According to the present invention, this objective is accomplished by providing the front sight blade with flexible legs supported at the bottom of a slot provided in the front sight holder and flexibly forcing the blade from below against a stop provided on the front sight holder.

The blade, which is preferably made of hardened spring steel sheet metal and thus easy to manufacture, is clamped between the stops provided on the front sight holder by its own flexibility so that it will be automatically centered without play owing to its inherent flexibility. The stops may easily be designed so that they favor the autocentering action and simultaneously enable the blade to be inserted and removed with ease, overcoming the force exerted by the flexibility of the blade.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the slot penetrates the front sight holder and the legs of the front sight blade bear against the barrel of the weapon. This arrangement automatically ensures accurate centering with respect to the barrel and obviates the need for accurately machined locating surfaces for the legs of the blade on the holder itself. An additional advantages lies in the fact that the cylindrical surface of thebarrel is particularly well suited to serve as a centering surface because it forces the legs of the blade in an outward direction for centering and simultaneously pushes the blade up against the stop on the holder.

A particularly simple arrangement of the stop on the front sight holder is one in which stop is formed by a pin inserted in the holder with parallel relationship to the barrel and penetrating a hole in the front sight blade. The hole in the blade may be somewhat larger than the diameter of the pin because the lower edge of the hold in the blade is'flexibly forced against the underside of the pin.

To facilitate loosening the pin when exchanging the blade, the pin may form the point of a screw which can readily be turned into, and backed out of, the front sight holder. To facilitate the procedure of clamping the flexible blade into the holder, the pin may advantageously be provided with a taper at its forward end so that the forward end of the pin may be engaged by the hole in the inserted blade while the legs of the blade still rest against themating surface without tension. As the pin is further inserted the taper will push the blade towards the centerline of the barrel until the cylindrical portion of the pin has entered the hole and retains the blade in the operative position.

With the interchangeable front sight according to the invention, the slot may readily be disposed with a slight backward inclination at the top as referred to the cross section of the barrel so as to provide a positively antiglare front sight. Furthermore, a projection which essentially masks the front face of the blade and protects the blade against damage may be provided at the top of the holder. This projection simultaneously affords the necessary space for accommodating the pin or, more particularly, the screw. provided with the pin-type point.

Further details and embodiments of the invention will become apparent from the following specification, in which the invention is described and explained in greater detail, reference being made to the embodiment shown by way of example in the accompanying drawing. In other embodiments of the invention, the features apparent from the specification and the drawing may be applied either individually or in any desired combination of a plurality of such features. In the accompanying drawing FIG. 1 is partially a side elevation and partially a cross section of the front end of the barrel of a weapon mounting an interchangeable front sight according to the invention and FIG. 2 is a section taken on line lI-II through the arrangement according to FIG. 1.

In the embodiment of the invention shown in the accompanying drawing, the front end of the barrel 1 of a weapon not shown in detail, e.g., an air pistol, mouths a front sight holder 2 formed by a sleeve surrounding said barrel 1, said sleeve being provided with a web 3 at its bottom and a web 4 at its top. The lower web 3 as viewed from the side is of approximately triangular configuration and accommodates a taper pin 5 extending tangentially to the sleeve-type section 2 of the front sight holder and the barrel 1 and serving to fasten the front sight holder to the barrel.

The front sight holder 2 is provided with a transverse slot 6 extending down to a point near the centerline of said front sight holder on either side of the upper 4 as viewed from the side. This slot has inserted into it a front sight blade 7 with legs 8 adapted to the circumference of the front sight holder 2 and provided with slightly inwardly curved ends 9 bearing against the circumference of the barrel 1. The front sight blade 7 is retained in the slot 6 by means of a pin 10 penetrating through a hole 11 in said blade 7 and retained by the point of a screw 12 screwed into the upper web 4 of the front sight holder 2 from the front end of the barrel. This pin forms an abutment to prevent withdrawal of the blade. The threaded hole 13 for the screw 12 in the web 4 of the holder 2 is followed by a locating hole 17 on the other side of the slot 6, said locating hole maintaining the pin 10 in an accurately fixed position. The blade 7 is made of hardened spring steel and so dimensioned that the ends 9 of the legs 8 fixedly bear against the circumference of the barrel 1, thus flexibly pushing the lower edge of the hole 11 in the blade 7 against the underside of the pin 10. In this manner, the blade 7 is fixedly restrained in the slot 6 and simultaneously located with a high degree of accuracy. To facilitate insertion of the pin 10 into the hole 1 l in the blade 7, the forward end of the pin 10 is provided with a taper 14. In addition, the hole 11 in the blade 7 is slightly flared at the front side of the blade. This arrangement enables the pin 10 to be inserted into the hole 11 by turning the screw 12 into the holder and the blade 7 is to be clamped in the slot 6 without being pretensioned.

The web 4 disposed at the top of the front sight holder 2 is provided with a slight downward slope on the side of the blade 7 facing the rear sight while in front of said blade 7 said web 4 mounts a projection 16 which simultaneously essentially the scope of the invention. in particular, the front sight blade may alternatively be located by means of relieved ledges or the like and the legs of the blade may bear against surfaces disposed on the front sight holder itself.

What is claimed is:

1. An interchangeable front sight for hand firearms, in particular pistols, comprising a front sight holder which may be attached to the barrel of the weapon and a front sight blade inserted into said holder, characterized in that said blade (7) is provided with flexible legs (8) supported at the bottom of a slot (6) disposed in said holder (2) and flexibly pushing said blade (7) up against abutment means (10) disposed on said holder.

2. An interchangeable front sight according to claim 1, characterized in that said slot (6) penetrates said holder (2) and in that said legs (8) of said blade (7) bear against the bararel l of the weapon.

3. An interchangeable front sight according to claim 1, characterized in that said abutment means (10) is formed by a pin inserted in said holder (2) with parallel relationship to said barrel (1) and penetrating through a hole (ll) in said blade {7).

4. An interchangeable front sight according to claim 3, characterized in that said pin (10) forms the unthreaded forward portion of a screw I2).

15. An interchangeable front sight according to claim 3. characterized in that the forward end of said pin 10) is provided with a taper (l4).

6. An interchangeable front sight according to claim 1, characterized in that said slot (6) is at an acute angle with respect to the longitudinal axis of the barrel for positioning said blade with a backward inclination to reduce glare therefrom.

7. An interchangeable front sight according to claim 1, characterized in that the top of said holder (2) is provided with a projection (4,16) which essentially masks the front face of said blade (7).

8. An interchangeable sight for hand firearms comprising a sight holder provided with first abutment means and having a slot for holding a sight blade in position, means for releasably securing said sight holder to the barrel of a weapon, and a flat sight blade to be inserted into the slot provided in said holder, characterized in that said blade is provided with a second abutment means and with resilient means for engaging the barrel of the weapon to force the second abutment means against the first abutment means to thereby hold the blade in place, and wherein said second abutment comprises a portion of the rim of a hole through the blade and the first abutment means comprises pin means adapted to be inserted through said hole.

9. The device of claim 8, characterized in that said resilient means comprise integral flexible legs on said blade.

UNITED STATES PATENT orri'tE CERTIFEATE 6F CORREQ'HQN Patent No. 3, 646, 682 Dated March 1.7, 1972 Inveritofls) Edwin Wohrstein It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Title Page, insert the following:

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data July 27, 1968 Germany P 17 03 910. O

Signed and sealed this 22nd day of August 1972.

(SEAL) Attest:

EDi-JARD I LFLETGHER, JR. ROBERT GOTTSGHALK Attesting Officer Commissioner of "Patents FORM Po-1o50n0-69) USCOMWDC 6O376 p69 U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE i969 O-JSfi-JJA UNITED STATES PATENT oFElcE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTEON Dated March 17, 1972 Patent No. 3, 64:6, 682

Inventor (s) Edwin w o'hrstein ppears in the above-identified patent It is certified that error a hereby corrected as shown below:

and that said Letters Patent are Title Page, insert the following:

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data July 27, 1968 Germany P 17 03 910.0

Signed and sealed this 22nd day of August 1972,

(SEAL) Attest:

EDWARD M .FLETCHER J R ROBERT GOTT SCHALK Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents FORM po'mso H0459) uscoMM-Dc 60376-P69 I .5. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE i969 O366 -334 

1. An interchangeable front sight for hand firearms, in particular pistols, comprising a front sight holder which may be attached to the barrel of the weapon and a front sight blade inserted into said holder, characterized in that said blade (7) is provided with flexible legs (8) supported at the bottom of a slot (6) disposed in said holder (2) and flexibly pushing said blade (7) up against abutment means (10) disposed on said holder.
 2. An interchangeable front sight according to claim 1, characterized in that said slot (6) penetrates said holder (2) and in that said legs (8) of said blade (7) bear against the barrel (1) of the weapon.
 3. An interchangeable front sight according to claim 1, characterized in that said abutment means (10) is formed by a pin inserted in said holder (2) with parallel relationship to said barrel (1) and penetrating through a hole (11) in said blade (7).
 4. An interchangeable front sight according to claim 3, characterized in that said pin (10) forms the unthreaded forward portion of a screw (12).
 5. An interchangeable front sight according to claim 3, characterized in that the forward end of said pin (10) is provided with a taper (14).
 6. An interchangeable front sight according to claim 1, characterized in that said slot (6) is at an acute angle with respect to the longitudinal axis of the barrel for positioning said blade with a backward inclination to reduce glare therefrom.
 7. An interchangeable front sight according to claim 1, characterized in that the top of said holder (2) is provided with a projection (4,16) which essentially masks the front face of said blade (7).
 8. An interchangeable sight for hand firearms comprising a sight holder provided with first abutment means and having a slot for holding a sight blade in position, means for releasably securing said sight holder to the barrel of a weapon, and a flat sight blade to be inserted into the slot provided in said holder, characterized in that said blade is provided with a second abutment means and with resilient means for engaging the barrel of the weapon to force the second abutment means against the first abutment means to thereby hold the blade in place, and wherein said second abutment comprises a portion of the rim of a hole through the blade and the first abutment means comprises pin means adapted to be inserted through said hole.
 9. The device of claim 8, characterized in that saId resilient means comprise integral flexible legs on said blade. 